Dec. 3, 2013 7:31 p.m. ET
The fight between the political parties to shape public opinion of the 2010 health-care law is entering a new phase that looks beyond the problems of the enrollment website, amid signs that the law's rocky rollout has damaged Democratic prospects for the next election.
President Barack Obama, who spent weeks shouldering the blame for the troubled rollout, said Tuesday the HealthCare.gov website "is working well for the vast majority of users'' and used the moment to try to hit the reset button on the administration's effort to persuade people to sign up for insurance.
"My main message today is we're not going back," Mr. Obama said. "That seems to be the only alternative that Obamacare's critics have, is, well, let's just go back to the status quo."
The White House said his speech was the start of a three-week campaign aimed at shifting attention to how the Affordable Care Act is helping families, by highlighting a new benefit of the law each day.
Republicans argue that the website bugs, and the cancellation letters sent to millions of people with policies that don't meet new coverage standards, were just the start of a long list of problems. The law is "causing people to lose the doctor of their choice, causing them to lose their health plan," House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said. "And if that wasn't enough, they're having to pay much higher prices at the same time."
House Republicans will hold three oversight hearings Wednesday on potential problems for small businesses and Medicare Advantage subscribers, among others, with more hearings planned this week and next.
The heavy overlay of political debate likely will continue up to and beyond the law's next milestone. Consumers who want coverage starting Jan. 1 must sign up by Dec. 23.
It also comes as polling suggests new dangers to Democratic candidates if the party cannot reverse public impressions of the law. A recent CNN/ORC poll gave Republicans a narrow edge on the question of which party voters would like to see control Congress—an abrupt change from mid-October, when Democrats had an eight-point lead. Tepid polling numbers for Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado last week raised the prospect that the party's incumbents are facing headwinds in states that Mr. Obama carried last year, not just in those he lost.
The health law has put many Democrats in a difficult position. After voting for the law, they can draw only so much distance from it. Democratic leaders have decided that the best course is to show voters they are working to fix the law and to fault Republicans for trying to repeal it.
This strategy is driven in part by polling that House Democrats conducted over the summer in 68 contested districts. It found that 55% preferred a Democrat who wanted to fix the Affordable Care Act, compared with 40% who wanted a Republican who would repeal it. "That's been a very durable result through thick and thin, and, obviously, we've had a lot of thin lately," said Geoff Garin, the pollster who conducted the survey. "Even with all the problems associated with the rollout, voters very clearly prefer somebody who wants to fix and improve the law over somebody who wants to totally repeal it."
Republicans scoff at any attempts to massage the message. "No amount of spin or backpedaling can save Democrats from these indisputable facts: They voted for Obamacare and broke their promise to the American people that they could keep their health care if they liked it," said Andrea Bozek, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
The issue is cropping up in elections in unexpected ways.
Bill Hughes Jr. , the Democrat running to unseat GOP Rep. Frank LoBiondo in a New Jersey district that Mr. Obama won in 2008 and again last year, has criticized the 10-term congressman for undercutting seniors and siding with the most conservative elements of the GOP.
"As a person who wants to be a responsible legislator, I'm not afraid of the Affordable Care Act," Mr. Hughes said in a recent interview. "Frank LoBiondo is. He can attack it all he wants, but what has he done to fix it?"
Jason Galanes, a LoBiondo spokesman, said Mr. Hughes and other Democrats "are determined to push full-steam ahead with this law…in the face of canceled policies, higher premiums and job insecurity for millions of everyday Americans."
"If 'Hughes Jr.' cannot recognize the consequences of Obamacare, he cannot offer common-sense replacements to it," Mr. Galanes said.
House Republican leaders have assembled a team to coordinate information among committees holding oversight hearings, and conduct interviews with companies, contractors and the government. Based on the information they have gathered, Republicans say they expect the new White House campaign to backfire.
"From a policy perspective, they are on completely shaky ground right now," said a senior House Republican aide.
Still it is unclear whether Republicans will advance their own health plan. Democrats plan to argue that voting dozens of times to repeal the Affordable Care Act is the only alternative Republicans have offered.
Write to Colleen McCain Nelson at colleen.nelson@wsj.com, Patrick O'Connorat patrick.oconnor@wsj.com and Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com
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